Exercise as Therapy: How we are revolutionizing healthcare!

Exercise as Therapy: How we are revolutionizing healthcare!

The Sport and Mental Health Summit 2025 will take place on June 28, 2025 and will be hosted by Prof. Dr. Moritz Petzold, a leading expert in the field of physical activity promotion. The symposium is entitled “From Evidence to Action: Status Quo and Optimization of Physical Activity Promotion in Various Health Care Disciplines and Sectors.” The event promises to be an important forum for discussion about integrating physical activity into the treatment and prevention of chronic diseases.

The focus is particularly on representatives from the fields of psychology, general medicine and sports and exercise therapy. This interprofessional mix aims to promote exchange between disciplines and develop innovative approaches to promoting exercise. In particular, strategies for outpatient care, in the hospital sector and in rehabilitation will be discussed, according to [medicalschool-berlin.de] reports.

Reliable evidence for promoting physical activity

The scientific contributions of the event are promising. Prof. Dr. Moritz Petzold will present findings from a Germany-wide cross-sectional study in which the knowledge and attitudes of clinical psychologists when recommending physical activity are analyzed. PD Dr. Sabrina Kastaun will provide insights into the implementation of exercise advice specifically for people with coronary heart disease, which was tested in two sub-studies.

Another interesting approach comes from PD Dr. Wolfgang Geidl, who will shed light on the optimization of movement-promoting therapies in medical rehabilitation. The PRO-BT and STABEKO projects promise innovative solutions to effectively integrate movement promotion into therapeutic processes. The symposium will therefore provide a platform to shed light on modern approaches and long-standing challenges in healthcare.

Interprofessional collaboration is key

The need for interprofessional collaboration is further accentuated by a contribution from [aerzteblatt.de]. This is formed as a prerequisite for functioning exercise provision in the healthcare system. An example of successful integration is Hospital Märkisch-Oderland GmbH (KHMOL), which has been implementing structured treatment of diabetes mellitus for ten years. Previously, diabetes was often only treated “on the side”, which led to a variety of complications.

The KHMOL has managed to network various specialist disciplines such as surgery and anesthesia, which has significantly improved the treatment of diabetics. The introduction of a multiprofessional network led to a significant reduction in length of stay and perioperative complications, which serves as a positive example of interprofessional collaboration.

These approaches are not only relevant in diabetes treatment. The need for specialist knowledge and skills in the field of exercise is urgent, especially in view of the current deficits in German health care, as highlighted in the [thieme-connect.com] position paper by DNVF AG exercise-related health care research. The integration of exercise offerings into all care contexts is crucial in order to exploit the potential that exercise care has to reduce costs in the healthcare system.

In summary, the upcoming Sport and Mental Health Summit 2025 shows how central exercise and interprofessional collaboration are to healthcare. The symposium participants can hope for innovative approaches to better integrate exercise offerings into the care of chronically ill people and at the same time strengthen communication between the different professional groups.